Diego Costa will spend the rest of the year on loan at Everton before securing a permanent move to Atletico Madrid in the summer, according to reports from Spain.

The Brazilian-born striker has not played for Chelsea since scoring in the FA Cup final after he was informed by Antonio Conte via text that he was not in his plans going forward.

Costa has been pushing for a return to Atletico Madrid all summer but with the Spanish side's transfer ban still in place and his relationship with Conte irreparably damaged, he must seek a loan move before Atletico are allowed to register new players once more in 2018.

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Chelsea are said to be happy to let Costa make the move to Merseyside until the end of the year as they are not due to face each other again until 2018 and they hope that Costa will help take points off their rivals.

But having spent the summer in Brazil after refusing to return to London for pre-season, it is not clear how long it would take Costa to regain match fitness.

Monaco and Marseille are also said to be interested in taking Costa on loan but it appears that Everton may have won the race.